stretchin ma legz

blank22 said:

HI,
I love to bike but hate to stretch it is boring and i dont feel like i do it right. i dont want to take a yoga class or anything. what should i do besides stop whining and get motivated? what can i do other than wait til i am unbearably soar and just need to stretch before i die????????????????????????? much love and thanks

How old are you? Generally stretching is the biggest crock of poo poo IMO. You watch the stretching gurus come out of the closet to flame me on there one. As long as you have the required functional movement to actively meet your needs in a 'sports specific' sense then I wouldnt lose sleep over it.

I know athletes who are obsessed with stretching and I know some who dont touch it with a 10 foot pole. Its usually the ones who stretch a lot who get soft tissue injuries more often IMO.

existence said:

As long as you have the required functional movement to actively meet your needs in a 'sports specific' sense then I wouldnt lose sleep over it.

Exactly... but our desk job society has dramatically increased the number of people who do not have adequate functional flexability.

I believe the OP would be well served to get a flexability assessment.

existence said:

How old are you? Generally stretching is the biggest crock of poo poo IMO. You watch the stretching gurus come out of the closet to flame me on there one. As long as you have the required functional movement to actively meet your needs in a 'sports specific' sense then I wouldnt lose sleep over it.

I know athletes who are obsessed with stretching and I know some who dont touch it with a 10 foot pole. Its usually the ones who stretch a lot who get soft tissue injuries more often IMO.

Or perhaps those that stretch are the ones who are disposed to soft tissue injury, which is why they have started stretching to minimize thier problems🙂

Nicolai Foss said:

Or perhaps those that stretch are the ones who are disposed to soft tissue injury, which is why they have started stretching to minimize thier problems🙂

I havent done any homework on the hypothesis (empirical evidence already? I wouldn't know) of a 'disposition to soft tissue injury' (holding constant the degree of flexibility of two trained athletes). My gut feeling is its a load of rubbish. No doubt there is strong correlation between 'intensity' and 'specificity' of exercise behaviour in relation to the onset of soft tissue injury. The role/value of stretching as an effective 'buffer' against this onset would be [censored] poor IMO.

Be smart. Listen to your body. React accordingly.

I doubt I am right so go and stretch for hours for all I care!

The benefits of stretching are nebulous. In theory, we shouldn't need to, but the point about desk job security must be well taken. In my case, for instance, I have [censored] hamstring flexibility, so it's not to be unexpected that if I go from my desk 8-10 hours/day to hard activity, my body won't be well tuned. I therefore do stretch as a way to relieve some issues. Specific strengthening designed to ward away pains can also be of benefit...again, it's hard to quantify, but there are people who swear that the physical therapy program they've tried has worked well (others who swear it will have done nothing).

blank22 said:

HI,
I love to bike but hate to stretch it is boring and i dont feel like i do it right. i dont want to take a yoga class or anything. what should i do besides stop whining and get motivated? what can i do other than wait til i am unbearably soar and just need to stretch before i die????????????????????????? much love and thanks

No joke, buy a foam roller. You'll do what's called self-myofascial release (look it up online for info). It works amazingly well on the IT band, Rectus femoris, calves, some of the hip flexors. Really loosens you up and is easy and fun to do.

donrhummy said:

No joke, buy a foam roller. You'll do what's called self-myofascial release (look it up online for info). It works amazingly well on the IT band, Rectus femoris, calves, some of the hip flexors. Really loosens you up and is easy and fun to do.

+1

Here's a website to get you started.
sport-fitness-advisor.comself myofascial release.htmlOpen ↗